Last week we published the first findings from our State of Poker survey, which polled over 1,300 poker players from across the USA.
Among many fascinating nuggets of information, we learned that over half of our respondents felt confident that poker is growing, while only 15% considered themselves overall losers in the game.
We promised we’d share more of the insights we picked up over the coming weeks, so here’s our next update - and it’s all about where players like to play.
What’s the favorite live tournament series?
Plenty of questions in our survey asked readers to ‘pick one’. Having lots of options is great, and we know players will always want to cast around for the best opportunities and value. But with these questions we wanted to know what the number one choice would be when you only had one vote to use.
And when it comes to the best live tournament series, there was a clear winner: the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
As the longest-running and most highly visible poker series in the world, it’s perhaps not surprising that the WSOP picked up more than three times the votes of its nearest competitor, the World Poker Tour (WPT).
What might be a little more of a surprise is seeing the Moneymaker Tour in 3rd with 12% of the vote. The youngest tour on the ballot is obviously doing something right, not least providing tour stops that are easy for many Americans to attend and afford, unlike some of the other tours on the list.
European Poker Tour (EPT), Triton and Asian Poker Tour (APT) events are not exactly local for US residents, and the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has only just returned. The sway of the WSOP’s iconic brand seems to be holding, for now, but we’re keen to see how this may evolve over time.
Poker pro Andrew Moreno, a member of our Player Advisory Board, has made multiple WSOP final tables and understands the series’ strong appeal - even if it’s not his personal favorite. “For series, I think the most attractive is always the WSOP,” Moreno tells us, “However, the WSOP is so long and Vegas is so uncomfortable; I prefer shorter series and a more favorable climate. For those reasons I prefer the World Poker Tour.”
What’s the favorite online poker site?
We asked, where would you play if you could play anywhere?
I think that poker players in the US picked PokerStars by a big margin because of the trust in the brand. In the American market there's been lots of turmoil, and I think one of the last times American players truly felt comfortable was playing on PokerStars, so it hints at the tradition, the old school, I think, but also the trust in the brand. And I think if you look at what PokerStars has done around the world, and is doing around the world, it's really striving to operate in legalized markets; they want licenses, they want to cooperate with governments to figure out the best solution… everything goes by the book, so I think that's most important, and I think that's exactly what America needs right now.
Given the intricacies of online poker regulation, this question requires more than a little context. Players across the USA have no access to some of the biggest names in the online game, and those who enjoy regulated online poker in their state often have scant choice when it comes to where to play.
For example, GGPoker may be the world’s biggest poker site, but it’s not available at all to US players. PokerStars, too, is only available in a few select states, and even then with no access to the global player pool.
PokerStars’ international reputation is obviously still on players’ minds, as it comfortably tops the polling here. Not too far behind is WSOP.com, a testament to the enduring and recognizable brand and an echo of players’ live tournament preferences, above.
Poker and chess player Jennifer Shahade is also a member of our Player Advisory Board, as well as a PokerStars ambassador. “I think PokerStars still leads in this category because of the brand’s commitment to game integrity,” she told PokerOrg, “Players all over the USA can enjoy the play money offerings, where you can understand immediately why the PokerStars software is so beloved.”
GGPoker, despite not operating in the USA, leads the rest of the pack. The site has made plenty of noise around overtaking PokerStars’ cash game traffic in recent years, and that noise has obviously made it to American ears.
It’s important to note that being a player favorite is no guarantee of success, should the regulatory landscape change. But it does point to a measure of the strength of online poker brands, and where the public is prepared to place its trust.
We hope these brands are able to test that hypothesis in the not-too-distant future, if and when the online poker playing field gets somewhere closer to level.
We’ll bring you even more insights into the State of Poker next week, including the most highly-rated types of poker content, so stay tuned for more!
